West Elfers Cemetery

As part of the Baillie Settlement, a congregation of Methodists and Baptists established a Union Church and cemetery on this site about 1876. In March 1877, the church conducted the first burial with the interment of Peter K. Baillie, a pioneer settler and Seminole Indian War veteran. When a fire destroyed the church in 1885, the Methodists established their own church and cemetery, now known as East Elfers Cemetery. In 1891, the Baptists relocated to become the Anclote Missionary Baptist Church. In the late 1930s, Michael Milbauer acquired a tax deed for the greater part of the cemetery property, and the Milbauer family established it as a community burial place, giving burial plots to the underprivileged. After surveying the property, Michael Milbauer deeded a portion to the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine in 1955, and it was later deeded to the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 1983. The Milbauers retained part of the cemetery for a family plot. After Michael's son Richard died in 1981, the Milbauer portion of the cemetery was deeded equally to the University of Florida Foundation and Saint Leo College, and both deeded their portions to Pasco County in 1987. Those buried in West Elfers Cemetery include former public officials, ministers, and veterans of seven U.S. wars.

Beacon Square, Florida · United States